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Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for
Workplace Success
Office of Disability Employment Policy
What is Skills to Pay the Bills?
Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success is a curriculum developed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)
Focused on teaching workforce readiness skills to youth, including youth with disabilities
Created for youth development professionals to use when working with youth ages 14 to 21, in both in-school and out-of-school environments
The tool consists of modular, hands-on, engaging activities that focus on six key skill areas
Our Soft Skills
Communication Networking Enthusiasm and Attitude Teamwork Problem Solving and Critical Thinking Professionalism
Universal Design
Activities were created to be inclusive and support universal design for all youth
Instructors should adapt activities to fit needs of their students
Strategies include: using technology, opportunities for collaboration, learning through multiple modalities
What Employers Say
Businesses across the nation have identified soft skills as crucial to the hiring and employment success of all workers
According to recent surveys, nearly three-quarters of employers indicated high school graduates were deficient in such basic skills as punctuality, verbal communication and working productively with others
Building off these results, ODEP sought to create an inclusive and dynamic curriculum to address these deficiencies
They did what???
71 percent said answering a cell phone or texting during the interview
69 percent said dressing inappropriately 69 percent don't like it when an applicant
appears bored 66 percent said appearing arrogant 63 percent would rather you didn't talk
negatively about a current or previous employer 59 percent said chewing gum
Communication
Many forms including verbal, written, and visual
Important to develop skills for both communicating TO others, and learning how to receive info FROM others
Employers routinely list communication skills as top-rated “must have” skill
Focus areas include information transfer and recognition
Enthusiasm and Attitude
“I can” attitude is critical component of workplace success
Smiling, punctuality, and desire to learn are traits of a positive attitude
Positive attitude can mean the difference between getting hired and fired
Focus areas include positive thinking and enthusiasm during interviews
Teamwork
Each individual plays a role in team success Cooperation, responsibility, communication
are key cogs in an effective team Employers value team players Focus areas include positive teamwork
behavior and understanding roles
Networking
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” Essential strategy for career development
and exploration Networking is key to unlocking “hidden job
market” Focus areas include taking initiative and
overcoming fear
Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
The ability to use knowledge, facts and data to solve problems
Process is as important as final answer Employers value ability to develop solution Focus areas include ethical decision-making
and problem solving in a team setting
Professionalism
Professionalism is a key to success, regardless of industry
Employers value those who carry out duties in professional manner
Quality work, honesty and integrity are key facets of the “total package”
Focus areas include molding soft skills together
In Their Own Words
“It was an experience going beyond my wildest dreams” - Brandon Pursley (student)
“I can’t think of just one thing that we did because I enjoyed everything” - LaShondra Neely (student)
“The Soft Skills activities are fabulous. They cover the five areas that are desperately needed in today’s workforce” - Virginia Dever (facilitator)
Thank You!
If you have questions or comments, please contact:
Jennifer Kemp - [email protected] Michael Huberman - [email protected] To download in English or Spanish, please
go to: www.dol.gov/odep/topics/youth/softskills Tell us how you use the curriculum at
